Phone book co. seeks injunction against Seattle opt-out law

By VANESSA HO, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Updated 1:05 pm, Thursday, May 5, 2011

On the same day Seattle unveiled is yellow pages opt-out registry, the phone book industry filed a motion for a temporary restraining order against the city's new law, aimed at stopping deliveries of unwanted yellow pages.

Dex One argued that the law – a first in the country targeting the increasingly irrelevant yellow pages - violates the First Amendment. Seattle's ordinance requires phone book companies to honor opt-out requests, get a license to distribute, and print a message about the city's opt-out program - or face penalties.

Dex, the city's biggest yellow pages distributor, also argued that Seattle had exaggerated the amount of paper waste generated by phone books. Its motion, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, is part of an ongoing lawsuit against the city.

The motion offered insight into the slightly rushed process for consumers to opt out. The city unveiled its registry Thursday morning with an opt-out deadline of May 16, giving residents just 12 days to cancel a Dex yellow pages book.

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Court records show that Dex deliveries in Seattle normally start in mid-June. That meant that consumers must opt out by mid-May to allow for a required 30 days notice.

The company has argued that the yellow pages are protected speech, comprised mostly of "basic listings and community information" and just a few ads. But the ordinance singles out the books for "differential treatment," which the company says is unconstitutional.

Dex also said the law will cause it "irreparable harm." It said it has already delayed its yellow pages cover design, required to display the city's opt-out message, and has canceled Seattle's only Spanish-language yellow pages, Seccion Amarilla, in part due to the ordinance.

"While no doubt satisfying to the City, such a result is anathema to the First Amendment," Dex said in court records.

More Information

Opt out of yellow pages in Seattle at the city's website here: Stop Phone Books.

The motion also accused Seattle of exaggerating the expected impact of the ordinance, designed to reduce paper waste. City officials have said Seattle homes and businesses receive an estimated 17,500 tons of unwanted paper in the form of junk mail and yellow pages.

Dex said a closer look at recycled materials show that phone books have a small impact. Relying on city emails, the company said phones books – collected from residential curbside and apartment recycling – comprise less than 2 percent of all recyclables in Seattle a year.